Woollahra Council is preparing a Planning Proposal to heritage-list eight places and one heritage conservation area on the Woollahra Local Environmental Plan 2014. Following a comprehensive heritage study of the Edgecliff Commercial Centre and its surrounds, it is found that these places are significant locally for their historical, associational, aesthetic, social, technical, rarity, or representative value. Heritage listing recognises this importance.

Background information

In 2022, Woollahra Council engaged GML Heritage to undertake a heritage study of buildings in and around the Edgecliff Commercial Centre. The purpose of the study was two-fold. Firstly, it aimed to consider and identify places with local heritage value that meet the criteria for listing on the Woollahra Local Environmental Plan 2014 (Woollahra LEP 2014). Secondly, it was prepared in order to inform the future progress of the Draft Edgecliff Commercial Centre Planning and Urban Design Strategy with consideration to the protection of heritage values in the area. Heritage listing aims to provide ongoing protection and recognition of the heritage significance of these sites.

A Draft Heritage Study was completed in August 2023, and the recommendations in the report identified a number of properties as meeting the threshold for local heritage listing on the Woollahra LEP 2014, Schedule 5. At this time, owners of these properties were distributed the Draft Heritage Study as part of a pre-engagement process, for their review and comment to further inform the Draft Heritage Study and a potential future planning proposal to heritage list buildings in the Edgecliff Commercial Centre.

Following the owner pre-engagement, the Edgecliff Commercial Centre Heritage Study and a draft Planning Proposal was referred to the Woollahra Local Planning Panel for their consideration in October 2023. The WLPP was in support of the recommendations made in the Heritage Study, and provided some additional feedback for consideration. GML Heritage reviewed the recommendations of the WLPP and made updates to the Heritage Study. The Final Draft Edgecliff Commercial Centre Heritage Study (December 2023) can be downloaded from the Document Library on this page.

Informed by the Final Draft Heritage Study, the advice of the WLPP, owner feedback and the resolution by Woollahra Councillors, Council staff have prepared a Planning Proposal to list eight (8) local heritage items and one (1) heritage conservation area in Schedule 5 of the Woollahra LEP 2014 and the associated heritage mapping.

The Planning Proposal was presented to a full meeting of Council on 8 April 2024. A recording of the Council meeting is available on Council's website. At this meeting, Council endorsed the recommendations of the Planning Proposal (in part), and resolved for Council staff to prepare the Planning Proposal for submission to the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) for a Gateway Determination.

About the Planning Proposal

The purpose of this planning proposal is to explain the intended effect of an amendment to the Woollahra LEP 2014. An LEP is a legal instrument that zones land and includes standards and controls to regulate the use and nature of development and the management of land. An LEP can also address matters of heritage conservation.

The amendment to the Woollahra LEP 2014 proposes the listing of eight (8) local heritage items and one (1) heritage conservation area in Schedule 5 of the Woollahra LEP 2014 and the associated heritage mapping.

The following seven (7) buildings have been recommended for local heritage listing as individual heritage items on the Woollahra LEP 2014, Schedule 5, Part 1:

  • ‘Gruzman House’ including interiors, at 6–8 Oswald Street, Darling Point;
  • ‘Winston House’ including interiors, at 20 New South Head Road, Edgecliff;
  • ‘Portland Hall’ including interiors and gardens, 48 New South Head Road, Edgecliff;
  • ‘Cobham’ including interiors and gardens, 166 New South Head Road, Edgecliff;
  • 'Brantwood Court' including interiors and gardens, 168 New South Head Road, Edgecliff
  • 'Brantwood Hall' including interiors and gardens, 170 New South Head Road, Edgecliff
  • Victorian Georgian Terrace group - three cottages at 543–547 Glenmore Road, Edgecliff.

One (1) landscape item has also been recommended for local heritage listing as an individual heritage item:

  • Phoenix Palms at Oswald Street Reserve, Darling Point.

The Brantwood Heritage Conservation Area (HCA), consisting of five buildings, has been recommended for local heritage listing as a heritage conservation area in the Woollahra LEP 2014, Schedule 5, Part 2. The HCA would consist of the following properties:

  • 156-164 New South Head Road, Edgecliff;
  • 166 New South Head Road, Edgecliff;
  • 168 New South Head Road, Edgecliff;
  • 170 New South Head Road, Edgecliff;
  • 172-180 New South Head Road, Edgecliff.

A detailed description of the heritage significance of each item is included in the Final Draft Edgecliff Commercial Centre Heritage Study, available to download in five parts from the 'Document Library' on this page.

What happens next?

Council staff are currently preparing a package of information to submit to DPHI requesting a Gateway Determination. The Gateway Determination gives Council the approval to progress the Planning Proposal for public exhibition. If the Gateway Determination is successful, Council staff will undertake formal public engagement with all affected land owners (and surrounding owners) at a later date. You will be notified again of the upcoming meetings and you will be provided with an opportunity to address or submit correspondence to the decisions makers. If you would like to stay updated via email, press +Follow at the top of this page.

To stay up-to-date with Council’s consultations, please register for Your Say Woollahra.

See privacy note under FAQs on this page